Executive order threatens protections that safeguard food - EWG

The order instructs heads of agencies to name a regulatory reform officer (RRO) to oversee implementation of regulations within 60 days.

The RRO and a “task force” have 90 days to see which existing regulations can be repealed or modified.

They should look at regulations that eliminate jobs or inhibit job creation, are outdated, unnecessary or ineffective and impose costs that exceed benefits, according to the order​.

“President Trump and his top aide, Steve Bannon, are charging ahead with their plans to “deconstruct the administrative state,” by threatening vital protections that safeguard food, drinking water, air and public health,”​ said Scott Faber, of the Environmental Working Group.

Faber said the impacts of the “analysis paralysis” will not be felt in Trump Tower.

“They’ll be felt in thousands of small towns and rural communities across the country, where people drink dirty water, breathe dirty air and eat filthy food. ​

“What will a world without common-sense safeguards for everything from drinking water, food and air, to consumer products and workplace safety look like? We could all find out soon.” ​

Scott Slesinger, legislative director at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said: “No matter how President Trump tries to dress it up, this order is a directive to kill the safeguards Americans depend on for clean air, drinkable water and safe food.”​

NRDC has brought a lawsuit with other groups seeking to block an earlier executive order that requires agencies to repeal two existing regulations for each new one they put in place.

The Safe Food Coalition condemned the order and called it a ‘bean counting standard’.